“Rural Tourism Development for the Prefecture of Lassithi in Crete.”

1.0 INTRODUCTION TO PROBLEM STATEMENT AND PURPOSE OF STUDY

Over the last two decades or so, the whole world has experienced rapid changes and

socioeconomic transformations. The socioeconomic changes affected and caused severe

stress mainly to isolated, peripheral and rural areas of the world. However, the changes in

economic and social culture structure of the world caused decreased farm revenues,

changing in the farmland values and high rates of unemployment, leading to mass exodus

of the productive forces and lack of balance in the demographics of rural areas (Gannon,

1993).

It is obvious from the above that the need of rural areas for socioeconomic development

and regeneration along with the need for diversification of their economic base so as to

meet the changes is today greater than ever. In that sense, tuned to be a promising

industry and one of the main sectors that national and local governments support and

promote as a vehicle for revitalization of the rural areas.

The development of rural tourism was followed by the changes on tourist’s demands and

behavior. Tourism in rural areas offers the potentials for alternative, individual and more

authentic tourism experiences satisfying the needs of the experienced and highly

demanded “new” tourists. In addition there is a demand for tourism and recreation

activities in the countryside that is different than that of traditional resorts and mass

tourism destinations (Page et al., 1997).

The motivation behind of this project is based on the fact that during the last few decades

the growth of Greek tourist industry has been dramatic. Traditional tourism development,

concentrated in coastal and mountain resorts, urban and cultural centers, has proven that

tourism can bring enormous benefits to the economy, society and environment of a

certain area. However at the same time there is a realization that certain parts of the

country have been left behind in development. Given their resources in the form of build

and natural environment they are increasingly seems as areas for rural tourism

development.

The Greek government is currently promoting rural tourism in order to sustain local

economies, and to enhance employment and growth. Although rural tourism is regarded

as a new feature of the Greek supply of tourism opportunities, in recent years demands

for holidays in small villages and the countryside has increased significantly in many

rural regions of the world.

The local of this research is a peripheral area of Greece, called Prefecture of Lassithi. It is

located in the Eastern part of the biggest island of Greece, the Cretan island. Even though

that rural tourism is in its infancy in the region, prefecture of Lassithi provides a unique

opportunity for the study of rural tourism for the purposes of this research.

The research project will therefore seek to explore and investigate the following:

• To examine the extent to which rural tourism contributes to the economy of the

prefecture of Lassithi in Crete.

• To identify and evaluate the demand for rural tourism at the prefecture of Lasithi.

• To identify and evaluate if the supply meets the demand for rural tourism at the

prefecture of Lassithi.

2.0 LITERATURE REVIEW

“Traditional, agriculture and forestry were central to rural life. They were the major

employers of labor, the main sources of income within the rural economy and indirectly

had a powerful influence on traditions, power structures and life styles” (Lane, 1994: 17)

2.1 WHAT IS “RURAL”

There is not one common definition of rural anywhere in the literature and the various

definitions that exist differ not only in scale but also in philosophy. While many countries

use specific criteria for rurality, there is no universal agreement on the critical threshold

which distinguishes between urban and rural populations (Roberts et al., 2001).

2.2 DEFINITION OF RURAL TOURISM

Even though it seems simple to define rural tourism as “tourism that takes place in the

countryside” this definition does not include the complexity of the activities and the

different forms and meanings developed in different countries, as well as the number of

protagonists participating in rural tourism (Lane, 1993).

According to (Lane, 1994) it is difficult to define rural tourism since there is not a

systematic source of data in rural tourism and neither World Tourism Organization

(WTO) nor the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) have

appropriate measures.

Nevertheless, Opperman (1996) suggested that the field of rural tourism still lacks a

comprehensive body of knowledge and theoretical framework. He argued that this is

caused by

a) Definitional problems concerning what constitutes rural tourism

b) Lack of data sources on small, rural enterprises which makes rural tourism much

less obvious and signifies much more tedious work for researchers in their quest

for data (Butler et al, 1998:224).

Although, the need to differentiate rural tourism from other forms of tourism exists. Even

if there is ambiguity between urban and rural and it is certainly difficult to speak about

strictly rural characteristics, people still shape images and views of the countryside that

differ from those of the town. The social representations of rural areas by the media and

the perceptions of individuals for the countryside certainly create a demand for these

spaces and shape consequently the distinctive form of rural tourism (Bramwell, 1994).

Looking at the supply side, rural tourism can be understood in three different ways:

a) Rural tourism is perceived as “working class tourism”. It depicts the image of a

poor man’s holiday, which stays with a local resident in a rural area.

b) Rural tourism is associated with a particular form of accommodation, as well as

with the option of undertaking specific activities.

c) Rural tourism is defined as a type of holiday where the place of stay is on a farm,

and the organized activities are connected with and around the farm. In this case,

rural tourism is limited to farm tourism or Agri-tourism (Grefe, 1994).

According to a broader definition, given by Gannon (1994: 5):

“Rural tourism includes a range of activities services and amenities provided by farmers

and rural people to attract tourists to their area in order to generate extra income for

their businesses”.

According to a European Union definition “rural tourism is a vast concept covering

other services besides accommodation such as events, festivities, outdoor recreation,

production and sale of handicrafts and agricultural products” (Commission of the

European Communities, 1987: 218). Nevertheless, according to Murdoch (1993), not all

tourism in rural areas can consider to be strictly “rural”.

Therefore because of the complex nature of tourism as well as that of rural areas there is

a considerable ambiguity as to what constitutes rural tourism. Indisputably there arises a

need for more unequivocal definition of rural tourism (Lane, 1993).

2.3 THE HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF RURAL TOURISM

Rural tourism is not altogether a new phenomenon. Interest in the country side recreation

started to grow towards the end of the eighteenth century as a reaction to the stress of the

increasing urbanization and industrialization. The nature and the countryside became the

“gaze” of tourists (Urry, 1990) and influenced poets and artists. However its growth and

development is due to technological advance, the availability of free time and the

increase in disposal income (Sharpley, 1996).

The biggest demand occurred after the end of the second world war, and the most

influential factor was the increase in car ownership, which enabled more people to visit

the countryside (Harrison, 1991).

However, the rural tourism of the eighties, the nineties and our era is different. The

number of tourists involved has increased significaly, the range of activities and types of

rural holidays has continued to expand, and tourism has developed in all types of

countryside instead of being limited to areas of exceptional scenic beauty (Knudson,

1985).

2.4 THE DEMAND FOR RURAL TOURISM

Demand is a well defined part of the planning process. Bangure and Arbel (1976:76) go

as far as to state that “supply-demand relationships are the cornerstone of planning in

tourism industry”. However, the concept of demand is broad and the term demand is used

loosely throughout the literature to mean anything from macroeconomic demand, to

tourism need.

With reference to rural tourism, demand has significantly increased in recent years.

Nevertheless this does not necessarily mean that it is in position to complete with the

seaside holidays. In order for rural tourism to be in a place to estimate its development,

growth and value, and improve its position it is vital to measure the demand (Sharplaey,

1997). Nevertheless, “the measurment of demand of rural tourism faces problems due to

the lack of an internationally agreed definition, and the variations of rural tourism

activities and persuits” (Sharpley, 1996: 60).

2.5 THE SUPPLY OF RURAL TOURISM

Supply, can be defined as a point of destination where demand may be fulfilled (Mitchel,

1991). Tourism supply is anchored in two principles: one is a service to provide for

demands of tourists and the other is a site or location, which attracts tourist (Mitchell,

1994).

Due to its multiactivity and multisectoral nature rural tourism is comprising an enormous

variety of activities, which take place in various rural locations, and it involves a

multitude of public and private organizations and businesses, which vary from a big state,

owned companies to small family owned ones (Ashworth, 1992; Sharpley, 1996).

2.5 RURAL TOURISM IMPACTS

Although rural tourism is a small sector of the world’s tourism market it can and already

making a significant contribution to the development process in the most disadvantages

areas. However it’s contribution is not only in economic terms but it also hides social and

environmental benefits, as well as equally important costs.

According to Cooper et al. (1993), these potential impacts depend on a range of criteria:

the number of tourists arrivals, the structure of the host economy, the type of tourism

activity, the difference in socio-cultural characteristics between the hosts and the tourists,

and the fragility of the local environment.

The following analysis of the positive and negative impacts of rural tourism is based on

the work of Gannon (1994)

2.5.1 Economic Impacts

Benefits of rural tourism

• Rural tourism strengthens the economy as foreign currency is added.

• It increases job opportunities, the family and community income.

• It helps to diversify and therefore stabilize the local economy.

• It increases the investments and therefore creates business opportunities both

within and outside the industry.

• It provides the opportunity for innovation and creativity.

• It strengthens and supports the existing businesses and services.

• It supports local craft and trade.

Costs of rural tourism

• It generates developmental and marketing costs that often involve risks for the

operator and community.

• It increases the demands on public services.

• The nature of employment may be part time.

• Since tourism is an image industry, it can be vary sensitive to the conditions of the

macro-environment and can attract outside direct community control.

• It usually brings about increased prices for property, goods and services causing

therefore, high cost of leaving for community residents.

2.5.2 Social Impacts

Benefits of rural tourism

• It creates a pride of place and a sense of place.

• It makes stronger the community infrastructure.

• It brings different people together providing therefore opportunities for cultural

exchange.

• Through the development of cultural and entertainment activities brings people of

the community closer and creates a team spirit.

• It supports the safeguarding and enhancing of local cultural identities.

Social costs of rural tourism

• It can reinforce the introduction of ideas and styles that may conflict with the

traditional ones.

• It can increase crime.

• It brings about overcrowding and congestion.

• It causes conflicts between the locals and the tourists in the using of important

community resources.

• It can raise conflicts and jealousies between the members of community when the

benefits of tourism are not equally shared.

2.5.3 Environmental impacts

Benefits of rural tourism

• Rural tourism can be the mean for conserving and revitalizing the natural, cultural

and historical resources of a rural region.

• It promises and supports ideas for village renewal and clean countryside

Costs of rural tourism

• The increased and unplanned tourism and tourist behavior may cause

deterioration of the natural environment or the historic areas.

• It can increase noise and litter pollution.

3.0 METHODOLOGY

The methodology that will be applied by the study has been chosen in order to acquire

information and deduce conclusions about the development and the role of rural tourism

in the area of the prefecture of Lassithi, in Crete.